Deleted
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Jun 2, 2024 2:11:25 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2020 16:56:48 GMT
From Medium...
”April was Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Every year, at this time, we talk about awareness, prevention, and the importance of women feeling they can step forward, say something, and be heard. That belief — that women should be heard — was the underpinning of a law I wrote over 25 years ago. To this day, I am most proud of the Violence Against Women Act. So, each April we are reminded not only of how far we have come in dealing with sexual assault in this country — but how far we still have to go.
When I wrote the bill, few wanted to talk about the issue. It was considered a private matter, a personal matter, a family matter. I didn’t see it that way. To me, freedom from fear, harm, and violence for women was a legal right, a civil right, and a human right. And I knew we had to change not only the law, but the culture.
So, we held hours of hearings and heard from the most incredibly brave women — and we opened the eyes of the Senate and the nation — and passed the law. In the years that followed, I fought to continually strengthen the law. So, when we took office and President Obama asked me what I wanted, I told him I wanted oversight of the critical appointments in the Office on Violence Against Women at the Department of Justice and I wanted a senior White House Advisor appointing directly to me on the issue. Both of those things happened.
As Vice President, we started the “It’s on Us” campaign on college campuses to send the message loud and clear that dating violence is violence — and against the law.
We had to get men involved. They had to be part of the solution. That’s why I made a point of telling young men this was their problem too — they couldn’t turn a blind eye to what was happening around them — they had a responsibility to speak out. Silence is complicity.
In the 26 years since the law passed, the culture and perceptions have changed but we’re not done yet.
It’s on us, and it’s on me as someone who wants to lead this country. I recognize my responsibility to be a voice, an advocate, and a leader for the change in culture that has begun but is nowhere near finished. So I want to address allegations by a former staffer that I engaged in misconduct 27 years ago. They aren’t true. This never happened.
While the details of these allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault are complicated, two things are not complicated. One is that women deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and when they step forward they should be heard, not silenced. The second is that their stories should be subject to appropriate inquiry and scrutiny.
Responsible news organizations should examine and evaluate the full and growing record of inconsistencies in her story, which has changed repeatedly in both small and big ways.
But this much bears emphasizing.
She has said she raised some of these issues with her supervisor and senior staffers from my office at the time. They — both men and a woman — have said, unequivocally, that she never came to them and complained or raised issues. News organizations that have talked with literally dozens of former staffers have not found one — not one — who corroborated her allegations in any way. Indeed, many of them spoke to the culture of an office that would not have tolerated harassment in any way — as indeed I would not have.
There is a clear, critical part of this story that can be verified. The former staffer has said she filed a complaint back in 1993. But she does not have a record of this alleged complaint. The papers from my Senate years that I donated to the University of Delaware do not contain personnel files. It is the practice of Senators to establish a library of personal papers that document their public record: speeches, policy proposals, positions taken, and the writing of bills.
There is only one place a complaint of this kind could be — the National Archives. The National Archives is where the records are kept at what was then called the Office of Fair Employment Practices. I am requesting that the Secretary of the Senate ask the Archives to identify any record of the complaint she alleges she filed and make available to the press any such document. If there was ever any such complaint, the record will be there.
As a Presidential candidate, I’m accountable to the American people. We have lived long enough with a President who doesn’t think he is accountable to anyone, and takes responsibility for nothing. That’s not me. I believe being accountable means having the difficult conversations, even when they are uncomfortable. People need to hear the truth.
I have spent my career learning from women the ways in which we as individuals and as policy makers need to step up to make their hard jobs easier, with equal pay, equal opportunity, and workplaces and homes free from violence and harassment. I know how critical women’s health issues and basic women’s rights are. That has been a constant through my career, and as President, that work will continue. And I will continue to learn from women, to listen to women, to support women, and yes, to make sure women’s voices are heard.
We have a lot of work to do. From confronting online harassment, abuse, and stalking, to ending the rape kit backlog, to addressing the deadly combination of guns and domestic violence.
We need to protect and empower the most marginalized communities, including immigrant and indigenous women, trans women, and women of color. We need to make putting an end to gender-based violence in both the United States and around the world a top priority.
I started my work over 25 years ago with the passage of the Violence Against Women Act. As president, I’m committed to finishing the job.”
Once you get past the political mumble jumble do you believe him?
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kibblesandbits
Pearl Clutcher
At the corner of Awesome and Bombdiggity
Posts: 3,305
Aug 13, 2016 13:47:39 GMT
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Post by kibblesandbits on May 1, 2020 17:00:09 GMT
Nope, and I don't care. We revoked our ability to worry about our leaders sex lives when we said it was okay for Slick Willy to get BJs in the oval office. Slippery slope, and all that. We got what we asked for.
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Post by leftturnonly on May 1, 2020 17:06:13 GMT
Every single person who blasted Kavanaugh and decided to believe Christine Blasey Ford when she had not one bit of supporting evidence for her wild and yet still oddly vague accusations against him owes it to all women to be consistent and get out there with their ME TOO posts of support for Tara Reade who does have contemporaneous support of her claim.
I'm not holding my breath while I wait.
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kibblesandbits
Pearl Clutcher
At the corner of Awesome and Bombdiggity
Posts: 3,305
Aug 13, 2016 13:47:39 GMT
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Post by kibblesandbits on May 1, 2020 17:07:48 GMT
Every single person who blasted Kavanaugh and decided to believe Christine Blasey Ford when she had not one bit of supporting evidence for her wild and yet still oddly vague accusations against him owes it to all women to be consistent and get out there with their ME TOO posts of support for Tara Reade who does have contemporaneous support of her claim. I'm not holding my breath while I wait. yeah, #metoo has been strangely silent over old Pervy Joe.
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kibblesandbits
Pearl Clutcher
At the corner of Awesome and Bombdiggity
Posts: 3,305
Aug 13, 2016 13:47:39 GMT
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Post by kibblesandbits on May 1, 2020 17:09:16 GMT
Once you get past the political mumble jumble do you believe him? Isn't the more PC questions "do we believe her?"
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 2, 2024 2:11:25 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2020 17:14:49 GMT
Once you get past the political mumble jumble do you believe him? Isn't the more PC questions "do we believe her?"Why?
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 2, 2024 2:11:25 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2020 17:15:28 GMT
Once you get past the political mumble jumble do you believe him? Isn't the more PC questions "do we believe her?"No. He is still not willing to unseal his University records. That hardly seems like a full investigation
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Deleted
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Jun 2, 2024 2:11:25 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2020 17:18:09 GMT
Deadline... “Alyssa Milano On Why She Still Supports Joe Biden & How She Would Advise Him About Tara Reade Allegations – Guest Column”
link
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ellaknits
Full Member
Posts: 186
Mar 17, 2020 22:21:56 GMT
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Post by ellaknits on May 1, 2020 17:21:07 GMT
I did read it, and I don't know. I find his willingness to have anything in the archives made public somewhat in his favor. I find the lack of corroboration about her reporting it....interesting. Are three people lying? Her neighbor's corroboration doesn't mean much to me. But her level of detail makes me uncomfortable that it did happen. My life experience and his smarmy persona leads me to suspect he probably did do it, so I'm torn.
OTOH, I think when we have someone in the WH today who is an enthusiastic and unrepentant pussy grabber and kisser of the unconsenting, it probably doesn't matter much to a lot of the electorate.
I feel like elections are a kangaroo court anyway; I've lost faith in the process when someone who was shy the popular vote more than 2,000,000 votes is "elected" - it's a corrupt and broken system. At this point, they could do almost anything on live television with a global audience and "win" the WH anyway.
/rant
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 2, 2024 2:11:25 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2020 17:25:26 GMT
Deadline... “Alyssa Milano On Why She Still Supports Joe Biden & How She Would Advise Him About Tara Reade Allegations – Guest Column”
link
If she believes there should be an honest and full investigation process, then she should also be outspoken about having all of the documents be released.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 2, 2024 2:11:25 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2020 17:30:29 GMT
Kavanaugh's accuser didn't state that she'd filed paperwork. I agree that we should see any paperwork on this incident that Tara believes/claims to have filed. I think both Joe and Trump have plenty of misogynistic behavior in their past. Trump has had 25 rape accusations. Joe, 1. I think let's listen to ALL the women in both cases. The one where the pervy dude perved comments on his grown daughter's body, admitted walking into dressing rooms on naked 15 yo beauty pageant contestants and has 25 rape allegations including a case trying to get his DNA evidence to check a dress (sound familiar?) and the case where the other too-handsy dude has one rape allegation. Let's listen to ALL the women! www.businessinsider.com/women-accused-trump-sexual-misconduct-list-2017-12
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MizIndependent
Drama Llama
Quit your bullpoop.
Posts: 5,836
Jun 25, 2014 19:43:16 GMT
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Post by MizIndependent on May 1, 2020 17:36:12 GMT
Deadline... “Alyssa Milano On Why She Still Supports Joe Biden & How She Would Advise Him About Tara Reade Allegations – Guest Column”
link
Why does anyone care what an actress says about this? Why does anyone care what ANY actor/actress says about things like this?
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Post by sunshine on May 1, 2020 17:42:36 GMT
Who really cares what Alyssa Milano thinks? I don't have to open up a link and read it to know if she's so quickly decided to believe Joe, she's a hypocrite.
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used2scrap
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,036
Jan 29, 2016 3:02:55 GMT
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Post by used2scrap on May 1, 2020 17:45:16 GMT
Every single person who blasted Kavanaugh and decided to believe Christine Blasey Ford when she had not one bit of supporting evidence for her wild and yet still oddly vague accusations against him owes it to all women to be consistent and get out there with their ME TOO posts of support for Tara Reade who does have contemporaneous support of her claim. I'm not holding my breath while I wait. Conversely every single Trump and Kavanaugh defender should have zero to say about these accusations right?
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Post by myshelly on May 1, 2020 17:46:04 GMT
I feel so hopeless.
Our choices for president are this old, rich white man accused of raping women or that old, rich white man accused of raping women.
You would think we could do better than this.
I’m a Democrat. I won’t defend Joe. We’ve had four years to find someone better than this. Someone people could get excited about. Someone who is a better choice than Trump. We presented a rapist. We only have ourselves to blame when Trump wins again.
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Post by Really Red on May 1, 2020 17:46:53 GMT
Every single person who blasted Kavanaugh and decided to believe Christine Blasey Ford when she had not one bit of supporting evidence for her wild and yet still oddly vague accusations against him owes it to all women to be consistent and get out there with their ME TOO posts of support for Tara Reade who does have contemporaneous support of her claim. I'm not holding my breath while I wait. Kavanaugh's accuser didn't state that she'd filed paperwork. I agree that we should see any paperwork on this incident that Tara believes/claims to have filed. I think both Joe and Trump have plenty of misogynistic behavior in their past. Trump has had 25 rape accusations. Joe, 1. I think let's listen to ALL the women in both cases. The one where the pervy dude perved comments on his grown daughter's body, admitted walking into dressing rooms on naked 15 yo beauty pageant contestants and has 25 rape allegations including a case trying to get his DNA evidence to check a dress (sound familiar?) and the case where the other too-handsy dude has one rape allegation. Let's listen to ALL the women! www.businessinsider.com/women-accused-trump-sexual-misconduct-list-2017-12 I disagree 100% that Ford did not have supporting evidence. She had people she told. FWIW, I grew up at the same time she went to Holton Arms (literally a couple miles from my house) and knew many of the people they both went to school with. The parties and crap that happened are all true. Absolutely. This woman does NOT have supporting evidence. In fact, a few of her accountings have changed, which is why the NYT discredited her story. Her brother said she told him nothing and then came back and said, "oh wait, yes she did." She says she reported it to numerous people in the Senate, yet zero of those people say that it happened. I worked in DC in the 90s. I know that while that is POSSIBLE that people would have brushed it under the table, someone would have remembered and an accounting would have been written if she did exactly what she said she did. The 2 (I believe) people who remember are her friends and we have only their word. Dr. Ford had written proof that she told people about it. Ms. Reade does not. So leftturnonly you are incorrect. I don't know why Ms. Reade is coming out now. She literally had years to do this while he was running for VP and was in office. She could have done it when he started the campaign. Instead she has come out once he is the apparent nominee. Yes, I find it strange. I want to believe all women. However, I think we all know that it is idiotic to believe everyone blindly. I gave Ms. Reade the benefit of the doubt, but looking into what she has said, it doesn't sound plausible. I wonder if she didn't have some uncomfortable interaction with Biden and has embellished it. I think this seems more likely at this point. And while I know this has NOTHING to do with the accusations, Biden is handling this correctly. He is not calling her ugly or saying he'd never "do" her. He is not being anything but as respectful as someone who feels they were wrongly accused can be. Trump has over a dozen verified accusations of molestation and rape against him. What are we doing about that?
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Deleted
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Jun 2, 2024 2:11:25 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2020 17:51:31 GMT
Deadline... “Alyssa Milano On Why She Still Supports Joe Biden & How She Would Advise Him About Tara Reade Allegations – Guest Column”
link
Why does anyone care what an actress says about this? Why does anyone care what ANY actor/actress says about things like this? Why should anyone care about what you have to say? Why should anyone care about what I have to say? The beauty of this place ,whether others care or not, is one can express their opinions and share information. Some may get something from it, some may think it’s a waste of time. I happen to think, as an activist and one of the first pushers of the #MeToo movement, some might find what she has to say interesting. It would also appear someone has their cranky pants on today.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 2, 2024 2:11:25 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2020 18:05:33 GMT
Isn't the more PC questions "do we believe her?"No. He is still not willing to unseal his University records. That hardly seems like a full investigation You got me, what does Joe Biden’s university records have to do with this?
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Dalai Mama
Drama Llama
La Pea Boheme
Posts: 6,985
Jun 26, 2014 0:31:31 GMT
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Post by Dalai Mama on May 1, 2020 18:08:59 GMT
I feel so hopeless. Our choices for president are this old, rich white man accused of raping women or that old, rich white man accused of raping women. You would think we could do better than this. I’m a Democrat. I won’t defend Joe. We’ve had four years to find someone better than this. Someone people could get excited about. Someone who is a better choice than Trump. We presented a rapist. We only have ourselves to blame when Trump wins again. We only have ourselves to blame? Is that they royal 'We' that hasn't decided if she is voting for Trump yet but who is definitely voting Republican for state representation? And how exactly do you think this will sway voters? Those who were previously going to vote Democrat (not you) are now so disgusted by a man who probably raped one woman that they will now vote for a man who probably raped 25? Such spurious hand-wringing. Me, I don't get a vote in this but, if I did, I would plug my nose and vote for Biden. Yes, he sucks. Yes, the Democrats should have chosen any number of better candidates. But, if you don't vote for the lesser of two evils, you get the greater of two evils.
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MizIndependent
Drama Llama
Quit your bullpoop.
Posts: 5,836
Jun 25, 2014 19:43:16 GMT
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Post by MizIndependent on May 1, 2020 18:12:36 GMT
I feel so hopeless. Our choices for president are this old, rich white man accused of raping women or that old, rich white man accused of raping women. You would think we could do better than this. I’m a Democrat. I won’t defend Joe. We’ve had four years to find someone better than this. Someone people could get excited about. Someone who is a better choice than Trump. We presented a rapist. We only have ourselves to blame when Trump wins again. My personal opinion is that Biden is a means to an end, i.e. a Democrat into the White House. Keep an eye on who his running mate will be. It is undeniable at this point that Biden's mind is slipping [WashPo: " It’s fair to speculate whether Biden is mentally fit to be president"], and with him being 77 right now, if he makes it into office he'd be older on his first day than Regan was on his last day!
I think they're banking on his vice president to fulfill the mission that Biden is attempting to start.
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gramma
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,911
Location: Sacramento, Ca
Aug 29, 2014 3:09:48 GMT
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Post by gramma on May 1, 2020 18:13:33 GMT
As a country we've already proven that we don't give a rat's hiney about politicians and their private behaviour. I think that it's interesting that this is ramping up now a few months before elections.
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Post by gardengoddess on May 1, 2020 18:16:28 GMT
I'm not concerned. We have a sexual predator pedophile currently residing in the WH with actual audio tape of his bragging about that part of his "style" as a man. What I'm more shocked about that the whole Ukraine/Hunter Biden conspiracy theory hasn't raised it's wackadoodle head again. Didn't the GOP scream to the rooftops just a few months ago that they were starting an investigation? Have we heard if they actually followed through with that? I figured we start hearing that Trump/FOX news were starting on that line of attack again.
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Post by freecharlie on May 1, 2020 18:19:26 GMT
I don't know why Ms. Reade is coming out now. She literally had years to do this while he was running for VP and was in office. She could have done it when he started the campaign. Instead she has come out once he is the apparent nominee. Yes, I find it strange. I want to believe all women. However, I think we all know that it is idiotic to believe everyone blindly. I gave Ms. Reade the benefit of the doubt, but looking into what she has said, it doesn't sound plausible. I wonder if she didn't have some uncomfortable interaction with Biden and has embellished it. I think this seems more likely at this point This is where I sit. How does one decide when is the right time to come forward? Wouldn't it have made more sense to do so when there was a field of nominees to keep him from getting the nomination? Or maybe it is that she didn't want to go public and only did so after he could possibly be president? But then why not when he was vp and could have ended up president had something happened to Obama? Me, I don't get a vote in this but, if I did, I would plug my nose and vote for Biden. Yes, he sucks. Yes, the Democrats should have chosen any number of better candidates. But, if you don't vote for the lesser of two evils, you get the greater of two evils. I'm not plugging my nose because I know what the alternative is. Unfortunately statements like the bolded (not calling you out, just using your words) are what screwed us with Clinton.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 2, 2024 2:11:25 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2020 18:22:40 GMT
No. He is still not willing to unseal his University records. That hardly seems like a full investigation You got me, what does Joe Biden’s university records have to do with this? The huge collection of Biden Senate records that Biden gave the Univ of Delaware
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Post by iamkristinl16 on May 1, 2020 18:23:01 GMT
Can anyone explain why this was brought up now? Biden has run for office several times and was VP. Why is this coming up now, and not even during the primaries?
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Post by myshelly on May 1, 2020 18:25:12 GMT
I feel so hopeless. Our choices for president are this old, rich white man accused of raping women or that old, rich white man accused of raping women. You would think we could do better than this. I’m a Democrat. I won’t defend Joe. We’ve had four years to find someone better than this. Someone people could get excited about. Someone who is a better choice than Trump. We presented a rapist. We only have ourselves to blame when Trump wins again. We only have ourselves to blame? Is that they royal 'We' that hasn't decided if she is voting for Trump yet but who is definitely voting Republican for state representation? And how exactly do you think this will sway voters? Those who were previously going to vote Democrat (not you) are now so disgusted by a man who probably raped one woman that they will now vote for a man who probably raped 25? Such spurious hand-wringing. Me, I don't get a vote in this but, if I did, I would plug my nose and vote for Biden. Yes, he sucks. Yes, the Democrats should have chosen any number of better candidates. But, if you don't vote for the lesser of two evils, you get the greater of two evils. I think that lots of people won’t vote. I think the Dems’ only chance was to put forth someone who got people who don’t usually vote excited enough to vote. They didn’t do that.
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Post by myshelly on May 1, 2020 18:27:06 GMT
Can anyone explain why this was brought up now? Biden has run for office several times and was VP. Why is this coming up now, and not even during the primaries? Because TPTB didn’t want Bernie as a candidate, so they ignored this until Bernie was out of the picture and then made it a national story the day after Bernie quit the race. Clearly that wasn’t a coincidence.
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Post by freecharlie on May 1, 2020 18:27:38 GMT
I think that lots of people won’t vote. I think the Dems’ only chance was to put forth someone who got people who don’t usually vote excited enough to vote. They didn’t do that. This Republican is voting against Trump.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 2, 2024 2:11:25 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2020 18:33:36 GMT
We only have ourselves to blame? Is that they royal 'We' that hasn't decided if she is voting for Trump yet but who is definitely voting Republican for state representation? And how exactly do you think this will sway voters? Those who were previously going to vote Democrat (not you) are now so disgusted by a man who probably raped one woman that they will now vote for a man who probably raped 25? Such spurious hand-wringing. Me, I don't get a vote in this but, if I did, I would plug my nose and vote for Biden. Yes, he sucks. Yes, the Democrats should have chosen any number of better candidates. But, if you don't vote for the lesser of two evils, you get the greater of two evils. I think that lots of people won’t vote. I think the Dems’ only chance was to put forth someone who got people who don’t usually vote excited enough to vote. They didn’t do that. Then those who chose not to vote are stupid. Maybe not a nice thing to say but it’s true.
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Post by iamkristinl16 on May 1, 2020 18:33:46 GMT
Can anyone explain why this was brought up now? Biden has run for office several times and was VP. Why is this coming up now, and not even during the primaries? Because TPTB didn’t want Bernie as a candidate, so they ignored this until Bernie was out of the picture and then made it a national story the day after Bernie quit the race. Clearly that wasn’t a coincidence. IMO, the main reason Biden is the presumptive nominee is because people were trying to guess who would be most likely to beat Trump. There are a lot of people who liked other candidates better but didn’t know if enough other people felt the same way. If people had known about this in the primaries, some other moderate would have risen to the top to beat Bernie. I’m really Frustrated that this is coming out now. I could understand why CBF waited until the hearings to disclose about Kavanaugh. He was about to be appointed to a very important, lifetime position. But Biden has run for president before and was Vice President. This is not a moment of “omg, that guy who assaulted me might be president. I need to tell someone.”
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